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Memories of Michael Bond In many ways author Michael Bond embodied some of the qualities that made his fictional creation of Paddington Bear such an enduring success. The famous bear, impeccably mannered and reliably forthright (if disaster-prone) always epitomises decency and Michael often spoke of how Paddington seemed absolutely real to him, his study in North London (not far from Paddington Station) decorated with incarnations of the bear in many guises. Michael was a prolific author, also writing The Herbs (a children’s TV series), the adventures of guinea pig Olga da Polga and the tales for adults of detective Monsieur Pamplemousse and canine sidekick Pommes Frites, but it was the bear from Darkest Peru who would ensure his literary immortality. He was born in Reading in 1926, a BBC trainee engineer there before entering the Forces in 1943. He’d always enjoyed writing and published his first short story in the late 1940s. After the war he worked at the company’s Monitoring Services in Caversham (before gravitating to life as a BBC cameraman) where he recalled interesting colleagues including “a Russian who’d escaped from Russia in a grand piano...and a Polish man who had fled his homeland with a horse. He used to ride it into work and tie it up at the cycle rack!” Despite exemplifying the best of British spirit Paddington himself was a refugee of course and a close friend of Mr. Gruber, the Hungarian immigrant who shares the bear’s cosy elevenses of cocoa and buns. Chatting with Michael was always a pleasure for he was a gracious, amiable host who’d become very animated discussing his beloved bear, his eyes sparkling as he mentioned Paddington’s various exploits. He was typically modest remembering how he’d inadvertently discovered the inspiration for his famous bear. “It sounds like a sob story. One Christmas Eve I was in Oxford Street and it started to snow. I went into Selfridges to find shelter and found myself in the toy department and there was just this one small bear left on the shelf. I wanted a stocking-filler for my wife so I bought the bear.” Writing back home in London his eye fell serendipitously upon the small bear. “I had no ideas as such but looking around my small flat I saw this bear sitting on the mantelpiece. And I thought ‘I wonder what would happen if’…” Literary history followed as his first book A Bear Called Paddington (1958) was hatched over a matter of days, the phenomenal acclaim following this and subsequent books allowing him to write full-time from the mid- Sixties. When creating his bear he’d recalled seeing trains from London at the start of the Second World War arriving crammed with evacuees. “They all had a label around their necks, each carrying a little suitcase with their prized possessions. It stuck in my mind so I gave Paddington a label, ‘Please look after this bear. Thank you’. It just felt right.” And as to the bear’s name? “I called him Paddington because it used to be my commuting station and I liked the name,” said Michael. “It’s got a solid West Country sound.” Bestowing upon his bear the duffle coat he himself was wearing at the time and giving him a decided fondness for marmalade sandwiches, Paddington’s credibility as a talking bear was always tacitly accepted, assisted no doubt by Peggy Fortnum’s wonderfully vital illustrations. Paddington’s longevity brought his author undoubted happiness. Some of the bear’s broad appeal derives from his civilised life at 32 Windsor Gardens with the Brown family. Michael once reflected, “I think people are slightly envious of his lifestyle because the speed of life has increased all the time...whereas Paddington lives life at his own pace,” and it’s clearly something that strikes a chord with many for the first Paddington feature film of 2014 was the highest-grossing UK film of that year, its sequel eagerly anticipated this winter. In one of our last communications mooting a future interview he wryly wrote with enthusiasm reminiscent of his famous bear: “If I had a helicopter I would be straight over but alas that isn’t the case! I’m not entirely firing on all cylinders yet but am almost there and it would be good to have a gettogether to exchange notes on this, that and the other.” “He was a hopeful bear at heart,” Michael once wrote of Paddington and the same could surely be said for him, often writing daily until his recent death in June at the age of 91. In the first film the author was given a cameo role where he raises a celebratory glass to Paddington and it seems only fitting now that we offer him the same appreciative gesture, thanking Michael wholeheartedly for his creation of “a very rare sort of bear” who has certainly carved an indelible niche in children’s fiction. AMANDA HODGES 54 THIS ENGLAND, Winter, 2017
Evergreen Subscription Offer Save over 30% exclusive to This England readers If you enjoy This England, why not take a look at our sister magazine Evergreen, for an even broader range of stories and snippets? Only £11.48 (one year) Subscribe to Evergreen today and save OVER 30% on the shop price with this exclusive, great-value offer An Evergreen subscription is the perfect companion to This England magazine, with photographs of the beautiful British countryside, articles about quaint customs and curiosities and regular trips down memory lane… amongst the 164 pages of Evergreen you really can escape from the hustle and bustle of modern life! Highlights in the winter 2017 issue include: Happy 70th Anniversary: Royal Wedding Recollections; Christmas Lights and Customs in the Cornish fi shing village of Mousehole; Celebrating Sir Ken Dodd at 90; Trolleybus Travels and Treasures; Jonathan Swift, author of Gulliver’s Travels was born 350 years ago, we tell his story; Home Town: A visit to historic Buntingford in Hertfordshire; TV Memories: Festive favourites from the 1970s and ‘80s including Morecambe and Wise, and The Two Ronnies; Juke Box: The 16th-century Christmas carol “Gaudete” that became a surprising hit single in 1973 for Steeleye Span; On the Air: Tune in to the results and scores with Sports Report; The Literary Pilgrim: Curl up with some classic, spine-tingling tales of the supernatural; Music Makers: Foot-tapping tunes from the great rhythm pianists. Take advantage of this very special offer and you will receive over 30% off an Evergreen subscription. At only £11.48 (UK) or £17 (overseas) this great value offer is exclusive to This England readers. As well as a subscription for yourself, why not arrange one for a friend or relative? Each gift subscription comes with a complimentary card, on request, for you to sign and send to personalise your gift. It’s easy to arrange, and throughout the year, as each seasonal issue lands on their mat, they will be reminded of your kind thought. PHONE: Freephone (UK) 0800 074 0188 Overseas +44 1382 575052 VISIT: www.thisengland.co.uk Quote code TEWINT Terms and Conditions: *£11.48 subscription offer is available for delivery within the UK by Direct Debit only. Free postage for UK addresses only. Overseas Direct Debit rate £17 available for UK Bank Accounts only. One year minimum term applies. One year discounted pre-pay rate £15.30 UK or £20.48 overseas. Overseas prices in other currencies are available on application, please dial +44 1382 575052. Please allow up to 28 days delivery from the receipt of the order. Offer ends 28th February 2018.
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For all who love our green and plea
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Page 8 and 9: Returning to England on a plane —
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Page 18 and 19: ENGLISH EXCURSIONS Essex is a place
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Page 24 and 25: Historic Cemeteries In Paris we vis
Page 26 and 27: Notes from a Cottage Garden by Rose
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Page 40 and 41: About as patriotic as one can get!
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Page 46 and 47: ‘POST BOX’ (continued) This Eng
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Page 52 and 53: Christian England The Yorkshire chu
Page 56 and 57: For most people “Lawrence of Arab
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Page 62 and 63: Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775
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Page 76 and 77: English Diary WINTER 2017 1 NOVEMBE
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